Wrench

ABSTRACT

An adjustable socket wrench comprising opposed jaws for gripping nuts and bolts, one jaw having a threaded male member fixed against axial and rotary movement and the other having a screwthreaded hole within which the male member is received so that rotation of one jaw about the axis of the male member causes the spacing of the jaws to be changed to accommodate nuts and bolts of different sizes.

United States Patent Roberts 1 1 Dec. 26, 1972 s41 WRENCH 804,831 11/1905 Cunnius ..s1/1ss ux In entor: victo N. che Mi r B Rlley levard, Richmond, British Columbia Canada Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Attorney-Fetherstonhaugh and Co. I22] F1lcd: March 16, 1970 [21 Appl. No.: 19,695

[52] US. Cl ..8l/l75 [51] Int. Cl. ..B25b 13/16 [58] Field of Search ..8l/155, 170,171,175

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1916 Weisler ..8l/l55 1/1966 Yohe ..81/66 [57] ABSTRACT An adjustable socket wrench comprising opposed jaws for gripping nuts and bolts, one jaw having a threaded male member fixed against axial and rotary movement and the other having a screw-threaded hole within which the male member is received so that rotation of one jaw about the axis of the male member causes the spacing of the jaws to be changed to accommodate nuts and bolts of different sizes.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHECZS I972 3,707,100

INVENTOR VICTOR N ROBERTS AT TORNEYS WRENCH This invention is concerned with a wrench which is adjustable to fit nuts and bolts of different sizes.

One proposal for an adjustable wrench is to be seen in the US. Pat. No. 277,265 issued May 8, 1883 to Giles et a]. It comprises two opposed jaws which have complementary nut and bolt engaging configurations and which are movable towards and away from each other to accommodate nuts and bolts of different sizes between them. One jaw (the movable jaw) has a screwthreaded hole in it and the other (the fixed jaw) has a smooth bore within which a wing bolt is secured against axial movement but is free to rotate. The screw is engaged in the threaded hole in the movable jaw so that as it is rotated the movable jaw is moved along it towards and away from the fixed jaw.

This invention seeks to provide an adjustable wrench which has small external dimensions so that access may be had to nuts and bolts in awkward places.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a wrench having two jaws which have opposed complementary nut and bolt engaging configurations, one jaw being fixed and the other being movable towards and away from the fixed jaw to accommodate nuts and bolts of different sizes therebetween. One jaw has a screw-threaded male member secured against axial and rotary movement and the other has a cooperating threaded hole within which the male member is received so that as the movable jaw is rotated about the axis of the male member it is moved towards and away from the fixed jaw.

It will be appreciated that with an arrangement such as this there is no requirement for a wing nut and so access may be had to awkwardly situated nuts and bolts and that the jaws with the nuts or bolts between them will be wedged against relative rotary movement when the wrench is in use.

Preferably the male member is fixed to the movable or rotatable jaw and conveniently there is provided a detent, which may take the form of a spring loaded ball and notch, so that the jaws may be properly aligned.

Additionally it ismost desirable to arrange that the pitch of the thread connecting the two jaws be such that one complete revolution of the movable jaw results in the jaws being opened or closed by an amount related to the difference between the head sizes of nuts and bolts on the standard for which the wrench is intended.

An embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wrench according to this invention,

FIG. 2 is a central cross-section of the wrench in FIG. 1 and,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the wrench in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The wrench comprises a fixed jaw and a movable jaw 11.

The fixed jaw 10 has a square drive socket 17 by which the wrench may be rotated by a conventional wrench lever. At the end of the jaw 10 remote from the drive socket 17 there is a nut or bolt engaging configuration 14 which comprises a generally V sectioned extension of the jaw, the included angle between the two sides of the V being selected to fit square, hexagonal or other polygonal nuts and bolt heads as required.

The jaw 10 is formed with a boss 15 through which a threaded hole 16 is formed, the hole 16 extending normally to the drive socket 17.

The movable jaw 11 has a nut and bolt engaging configuration 20 which complements the configuration 14 of jaw 10 and is of similar V section. Secured within the jaw 11 as for example by welding is a bolt 21 which is engaged within the threaded hole 16 of the jaw 10 so that rotation of jaw 11 will cause it to be moved towards jaw 10. The jaw 11 has an annular recess 22 around the bolt 21 within which the boss 15 of the jaw 10 may be accommodated as the jaws draw close to each other.

As can be seen in FIG. 1 the end or edge of the jaw 11 remote from the nut and bolt engaging configuration 20 is arcuate and the adjacent surface 24 of jaw 10 is correspondingly shaped. A radial groove 25 is formed centrally of the arcuate edge 23 of the jaw 11 and cooperates with a detent formed by a ball 26 which is secured in a pocket 27 of the jaw 10 and spring loaded towards the arcuate surface 23 of the movable jaw by a spring 28. The groove 25 and the ball 26 are so located that when the ball is engaged in the groove the complimentary nut and bolt engaging configurations 14 and 20 of the two jaws are in alignment.

Preferably an edge 30 of the fixed jaw is formed with graduations 31 and a corresponding indicium 32 is formed on the edge 33 of the movable jaw adjacent to edge 30.

The graduations are related to the spacing between the configurations 14 and 20 of the two jaws and the pitch of the threads of the bolts 21 and the hole 16 is selected so that one complete revolution of the movable jaw results in an increment in the spacing of the configurations l4 and 20 which corresponds to the difference in size between the bolt heads or nuts in a particular standard for which the wrench is intended. In other words, for example, one rotation of the movable jaw may result in a shift in the spacing of the configurations 14 and 20 equal to the difference between the bolt head sizes of a /4 inch and 5/16 inch bolt etc. of the particular standard for which the wrench is intended e.g., National Fine or British Standard Whitworth.

It is to be appreciated that with the arrangement illustrated there are no projecting elements which would interfere with the wrench being applied to a nut or bolt located awkwardly. Additionally, the configuration of the jaw is such that there is no tendency for the movable jaw to rotate as torque is applied to a nut or bolt. Further the arrangement is such that a ready adjustment of the wrench can be made with accuracy.

It is of course to be appreciated that the arrangement in the drawings is illustrative of the invention and not restrictive. For example, the embodiment in the drawings could be changed by securing the bolt to the jaw having the drive socket.

I claim:

l. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw and a movable jaw having opposed nut and bolt engaging configurations thereon, one of said jaws having a threaded male member and the other of said jaws having a threaded hole receiving said male member whereby the movable jaw is rotatably mounted to move towards and away from the fixed jaw, the aforesaid threads being related to a selected group of standard size nuts and bolts whereby rotation of the movable jaw through one complete revolution will vary the setting of the configuration one standard size, and including graduations on one jaw and an indicium on the other jaw, the graduations being relatedto the spacing of the nut and bolt engaging configurations of the jaws.

2. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw having a leverreceiving socket on one end and a nut and bolt engaging configuration on an opposite end thereof, a movable jaw having a nut and bolt engaging configuration on one end thereof cooperating with the configuration on the fixed jaw, one jaw having a threaded male member and the other jaw having a threaded hole receiving said male member whereby the movable jawv is rotatably mounted to move towards and away from the fixed jaw, the aforesaid threads being related to a selected group of standard size nuts and bolts whereby rotation of the movable jaw through one complete revolution will vary the setting of the configuration one standard size, yieldable means for releasably securing the movable jaw against rotation, and including graduations on one jaw and an indicium on the other jaw, the graduations being related to the spacing of the nut and bolt engaging configurations of the jaws.

l I! i l t 

1. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw and a movable jaw having opposed nut and bolt engaging configurations thereon, one of said jaws having a threaded male member and the other of said jaws having a threaded hole receiving said male member whereby the movable jaw is rotatably mounted to move towards and away from the fixed jaw, the aforesaid threads being related to a selected group of standard size nuts and bolts whereby rotation of the movable jaw through one complete revolution will vary the setting of the configuration one standard size, and including graduations on one jaw and an indicium on the other jaw, the graduations being related to the spacing of the nut and bolt engaging configurations of the jaws.
 2. A wrench comprising a fixed jaw having a lever-receiving socket on one end and a nut and bolt engaging configuration on an opposite end thereof, a movable jaw having a nut and bolt engaging configuration on one end thereof cooperating with the configuration on the fixed jaw, one jaw having a threaded male member and the other jaw having a threaded hoLe receiving said male member whereby the movable jaw is rotatably mounted to move towards and away from the fixed jaw, the aforesaid threads being related to a selected group of standard size nuts and bolts whereby rotation of the movable jaw through one complete revolution will vary the setting of the configuration one standard size, yieldable means for releasably securing the movable jaw against rotation, and including graduations on one jaw and an indicium on the other jaw, the graduations being related to the spacing of the nut and bolt engaging configurations of the jaws. 